‘Humph! Ungrateful bitches,’ Mrs Hall grumbled as she went back into her own room, slamming the door resoundingly behind her.

They had almost reached the front door when Sally, the little girl from the room next to theirs, appeared from the street, her face pinched and her poor little hands blue with cold.

‘Oh, I’m glad I’ve seen you, I wanted to say goodbye,’ Holly told her and was shocked when the little girl’s face crumpled. Holly often slipped her a penny and she would miss her. Now Holly fumbled in her purse and pressed some coins into the little girl’s hand.

‘Go and buy yourself some sweeties,’ she urged her and suddenly the little girl threw her arms about her waist and hugged her fiercely before disappearing out of the door again like a shot from a gun. She knew better than to go home with money in her hand, as her father would take it off her and she had every intention of doing exactly what Holly had suggested.

‘Poor little mite. I hope she’ll be all right,’ Holly fretted.

Ivy gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew what a soft heart Holly had.

‘Come on,’ she urged. ‘If we want to get our new place all set up for Christmas we need to get a move on.’

For the next few nights and every spare minute they had when they weren’t working was spent scrubbing and cleaning the little flat from top to bottom and it was soon transformed into a comfortable little home that they were very proud of. Ivy had attacked the dark wood table and chairs and the old sideboard with lavender furniture wax and now it gleamed in the light from the fire. The bare floorboards had been scrubbed until they were almost white and Ivy had whitewashed the walls, which had brightened the place up no end. Even the fabric on the sofa had been thoroughly washed and now looked inviting with its pretty cushions spread across it. The curtains that Holly had stitched for their old room hung at the window in the living room, although after Christmas they would have to buy some more for their bedrooms.

‘There, I reckon we’re all ready fer Christmas now,’ Ivy said as she stood back and eyed their little home with pride. ‘It’s a shame we couldn’t have got us a Christmas tree though.’

‘Perhaps next year. At least we have a chicken to cook,’ Holly pointed out. ‘And tonight we’ll go to the carol service at St Anne’s. I’m starting my Red Cross course there after the New Year.’

They spent Christmas and the New Year quietly at home together, content in each other’s company, although Holly’s thoughts constantly drifted to her mother and she wondered how she would be coping with their first Christmas apart. She hoped she managed to enjoy it, because she hated to think of her mother being unhappy without her.